Envelope tray adapter

ABSTRACT

An envelope tray adapter is designed to protect a horizontal stack of envelopes positioned in a postal tray having outwardly angled sidewalls. The adapter has pairs of side and end panels joined end to end and sized to fit on the bottom wall of the tray. Each panel has a height greater than the envelope stack, but less than the sidewalls of the tray for supporting a second postal tray nested on top and protecting the envelopes from crushing. The panels may be formed from a continuous length of material that is folded to form the end and side panels. The adapter panels may also be formed of a corrugated paper material. One end of the panels has a free end including a glue flap that overlaps and adheres to the inner surface of the adjacent panel.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure is broadly concerned with an adapter for use with a postal envelope tray. More particularly, it is concerned with an adapter for supporting and protecting a horizontal stack of envelopes within a postal tray to maintain the envelopes in a compressed, flattened state during curing of the adhesive and at the same time permit vertical stacking of additional postal trays in a nesting relation without deforming the envelopes.

Envelopes used for bulk mailing are generally obtained in quantity from an envelope manufacturer and delivered to inserter/mailer firms that use automated equipment to stuff the envelopes. Typically, envelopes reach the exit tray or table of the envelope machine with the side seam adhesive still wet. The envelopes are immediately removed by hand under compression and tightly packed into corrugated cartons. Because the packed envelopes are compressed, the panels are held together until the adhesive cures and the envelopes dry in a flat state. The cartons of envelopes are then delivered to an inserter firm, opened and the envelopes are unloaded by hand for placement into the inserter apparatus. The “stuffed” envelopes are then placed in containers such as postal trays and delivered to a bulk mail center or postal facility.

This packaging system is expensive, inefficient and not environmentally friendly. The corrugated cartons are expensive, difficult to handle and open and they take up space in the area of the envelope and inserter machinery. They also present disposal problems for the inserter firm. Attempts to reuse the cartons have been unsuccessful because of the labor required to sort and handle them.

While it would be preferable to transport the newly manufactured envelopes to the inserter/mailer in postal trays, which could be reused to deliver the stuffed envelopes for mailing, previous attempts to do so have not been successful. This failure may be attributed to the configuration of US postal trays. The trays are manufactured in accordance with USPS specifications to include a flat rectangular base and four upwardly and outwardly extending sides, each having the shape of an isosceles trapezoid, so that all sides extend upwardly and outwardly at an angle from the base. The trays are sized to receive a horizontally stacked layer of stuffed, standard sized business envelopes that are upstanding in orthogonal relation to the base of the tray. Because of the outward angle of the sides there is a gap between the sides of the tray and the sides of the envelope stack.

While the outwardly angled configuration of the sides of the trays advantageously enables the trays to be stacked in a nested fashion, the gap resulting from that configuration prevents lateral support of the envelope stack. The angular gap between the outwardly angled sides of the tray and the orthogonal envelope stack provides room for the envelopes to curl and warp. Newly manufactured envelopes are particularly susceptible to distortion or deforming as the wet adhesive cures. Such deformed envelopes are unsuitable for use with automatic inserting equipment because of their tendency to jam the equipment. Without the necessary pressure to hold the envelopes tightly together, the panels may also separate from each other before the adhesive is dried, causing the seams to become unglued and rendering the envelopes unusable.

In addition, while the sides of the trays are configured to enable close stacking of the trays when they are not in use, they do not keep the bottom of a stacked tray up and away from the top of a horizontal stack of envelopes in a lower tray. This may result in crushing of envelopes when the postal trays are vertically stacked in a column.

Accordingly, there is a need for an envelope packaging system that avoids the problems previously described and permits usage of USPS postal trays to transport newly manufactured envelopes throughout the mailstream and that permits the trays to be stacked without crushing the envelopes,

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The envelope tray adapter provides a greatly improved system for protecting a horizontal stack of envelopes positioned in a postal tray having outwardly angled sidewalls. The adapter has pairs of side and end panels joined end to end and sized to fit on the bottom wall of the postal tray. Each panel has a height greater than the height of the envelope stack, but less than the sidewalls of the postal tray in order to support a second postal tray nested on top and protect the envelopes from being crushed. The panels may be formed from a continuous length of any suitable material that is folded to form the side and end panels and is strong enough to support the load produced. Appropriate materials include common corrugated paper box forming product known as “275 pound test paper board.” One end of the panels has a free end including a glue flap that overlaps and adheres to the inner surface of the adjacent end panel. An envelope packaging system for stacks of horizontal envelopes includes a postal tray with an envelope tray adapter positioned in engagement with the bottom wall of the postal tray to receive a horizontal stack of envelopes and a second postal tray positioned atop the envelope tray adapter to maintain the second postal tray out of engagement with the envelopes.

Various objects and advantages of this envelope tray adapter will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein are set forth, by way of illustration and example, certain embodiments of this invention.

The drawings constitute a part of this specification, include exemplary embodiments of the envelope tray adapter, and illustrate various objects and features thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an envelope packaging system including two envelope trays, each equipped with a tray adapter, a horizontal stack of envelopes positioned in each tray, tray adapters positioned in the trays and the trays positioned in a nested arrangement.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of an adapter shown in FIG. 1, showing the glue flap overlapping and sealed to the adapter second free end.

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of the envelope trays of FIG. 1 in a stacked position with parts broken away to show the second envelope tray positioned on the envelope tray adapter positioned within the first envelope tray, and showing envelopes supported within the envelope tray adapter.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As required, detailed embodiments of the envelope tray adapter are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the adapter, envelope packaging system and method of packaging, which may be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the tray adapter in virtually any appropriately detailed structure and method.

Referring now to the drawing figures, the reference numeral 1 refers to an envelope packaging system depicted in FIGS. 1 and 3 to include a plurality of envelope tray adapters 2 and 3 and a plurality of envelope trays 4 and 5 used to hold an envelope stack 6 comprised of individual envelopes 7. As best shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the first and second envelope trays 4 and 5 each include a generally rectangular base or bottom wall 10 joined to first, second, third and fourth side walls 13, 14, 15 and 16, which extend upwardly and outwardly at an angle from the bottom wall 10. The side walls extend upwardly to a height, which also defines the overall height of the tray 4 and 5. The first and third side walls 13 and 15 each have a length corresponding to the width of the bottom wall, and serve as end walls with finger holes 21 to facilitate handling. The second and fourth side walls 14 and 16 each have a length corresponding to the length of the bottom wall. While a standard postal envelope tray is depicted in FIGS. 1 and 3, this invention may be practiced with any suitable tray or tub, including those having orthogonally upstanding side walls. In particular, the trays 4 and 5 may be of any size appropriate for the size of envelopes 7 or other mailers to be packaged.

The envelope stack 6 is made up of a group of envelopes 7, each having a top 22 (FIG. 3), a bottom 23 and a pair of sides 25. The width of the stack 6 corresponds to the envelope length, and the height of the stack 6 corresponds to the envelope height. While standard #2 business envelopes are depicted in FIGS. 1 and 3, it is foreseen that any suitable envelope or even non-standard envelopes, cards, or other mailers may be used, and that the envelope trays 4 and 5 and the adapters 2 and 3 will be sized and configured in accordance with the selected envelope size and shape.

Each of the illustrated envelope tray adapters 2 and 3 is formed of a continuous length of material having a first free end 30 and a second free end 31. The material is scored, creased, or folded to form a first end panel 32, a first side panel 33, second end panel 34 and a second side panel 35 joined in end-to-end relation. A glue flap 36 extends from the second free end 31. The side panels 33 and 35 are generally equal in length as are the end panels 32 and 34.

The end panels 32 and 34 and the side panels 33 and 35 have such panel heights and cooperate in such a manner as to support a second tray 5 out of crushing engagement with a stack of envelopes 7 positioned within the panels. The panels 33, 34, 35 and 36 are generally equal in height, although it is foreseen that the end panels 32 and 34 may be of generally equal height with only one of the side panels 33 or 35 having an equal height; and that the side panels 33 and 35 may be of generally equal height with only one of the end panes 32 or 34 having an equal height. It is also foreseen that one or more of the individual panels 32, 33, 34 or 35 may include one or more portions having a height less than the height of the remainder of the respective panel. It is intended that the term “equal” as applied to length and height allows for appropriate industry variations sufficient to provide the desired support and stability while being inexpensive to produce.

The panels are folded to form corners defining an upstanding, generally rectangular configuration open at the top and bottom, in which the tray adapters 2 and 3 and each of the panels 32, 33, 34 and 35 have an inner surface 42 (FIG. 2) and an outer surface 43. In this configuration, the end panels 32 and 34 are opposite one another and the side panels 33 and 35 are opposite one another with the glue flap 36 overlapping a portion of the adjacent end panel 32 and adhered to the inner surface 42 of the adjacent end panel 32.

The end panels 32 and 34 of the tray adapters 2 and 3 are sized to have a length that is less than the width of the bottom wall 10 of the envelope trays 4 and 5 but slightly greater than the length of the envelopes 6. The side panels 33 and 35 of the tray adapters 2 and 3 are sized to have a length that is less than the length of the bottom wall 10 so that the adapter 2 or 3 can be easily received within the tray 4 or 5 and can easily receive an envelope stack 6. The tray adapter panel height is sized to be less than the height of the envelope tray sidewalls 13, 14, 15, and 16, and the end panels 32 and 33 and at least one of the side panels 34 and 35 have a height greater than the height of the envelopes 6, so that the adapter 2 or 3 will stand above the tops 22 of the envelopes 7 to receive and support the bottom wall 10 of a second tray 5 when it is stacked on top of the adapter 2 positioned within the first tray 4.

The tray adapters 2 and 3 may be constructed of a natural fibrous material such as paper or cardboard, which may be corrugated for strength, or they may be formed of a synthetic resin or fiberglass material. Such construction permits the adapters 2 and 3 to be folded flat for storage when they are not in use. However, it is also foreseen that the adapters 2 and 3 could be constructed of wood, metal or any combination of the foregoing materials.

In a method of use, a plurality of postal trays 4 and 5 are obtained by an envelope manufacturer. While only two exemplary trays and adapters are shown and described, the number of trays and adapters actually used will be determined by the number of envelopes 7 to be processed. A plurality of envelope tray adapters 2 and 3 are also obtained. Advantageously, the adapters 2 and 3 are inexpensive, use fewer raw materials than cartons, and they may be stored flat to conserve space. One tray adapter 2 or 3 is positioned within each of the envelope trays 4 and 5.

The adapters 2 and 3 are installed to engage the bottom wall 10 of the tray in generally orthogonal relation, with the adapter panels 32, 33, 34 and 35 being somewhat shorter than the tray side walls 13, 14, 15 and 16. This construction serves to ensure that there is some distance or space between the upper margin of each adapter 2 and 3 and the upper margin of the respective envelope tray 4 and 5. It also provides a generally triangular space or gap between the outer surfaces 43 of the orthogonal adapter panels and the outwardly extending side walls, which enables a user to reach into each of the trays 4 and 5 and comfortably position the adapters 2 and 3 within the respective envelope trays 4 and 5 without pinched fingers.

A user removes a stack of newly manufactured envelopes 7 from the exit tray or table of an envelope machine (not shown), compressing them to form a stack that is slightly curved on top for ease of handling. The user next positions the compressed horizontal stack 6 of envelopes 7 within each of the adapters 2 and 3 with the envelope bottoms 23 engaging the upper surface of the bottom wall 10 of a tray 4 and 5. The envelope stack 6 is laterally laterally supported in a compressed condition by the adapter panels 32, 33, 34 and 35 while the adhesive dries.

The user next stacks the postal trays 4 and 5 with the bottom wall 10 of the upper tray 5 engaging the lower adapter 2 in its respective lower tray 4. In this manner the upper tray 5 is supported on top of the lower adapter 2 and the tray 5 is maintained out of crushing engagement with the envelopes 7 in the lower tray 4. The trays 4 and 5 may be stacked in a column configuration as depicted in FIGS. 1 and 3. The height of the adapters 2 and 3 also permit stacking of the trays 4 and 5 in an interlaced manner, sometimes referred to as brick stacked. Interlaced brick stacking provides a strong load that is more stable than column stacking.

When the envelopes 7 so packaged are delivered to the inserter firm, they are easily removed from the adapters 2 and 3 and placed into inserter machines (not shown) for stuffing the envelopes with preselected contents. The adapters 2 and 3 require less space than cartons in the are of the inserter machines and they may be returned to the envelope manufacturer for reuse. In some cases, depending on the expense of the adapters 2 and 3, the adapters can be disposed of by recycling. Once the envelopes 7 are stuffed, they can again be loaded into the trays 4 and 5 for delivery to a mailing center.

In this manner, the envelope packaging system 1 provides an economical, user friendly system for supporting newly manufactured envelopes 7 and transporting them to an inserter firm and then transporting the stuffed envelopes 7 to a mailing facility in a single postal tray without the need for additional packaging cartons.

It is to be understood that while certain forms of the present invention have been illustrated and described herein, it is not to be limited to the specific forms or arrangement of parts described and shown. 

1. An envelope tray adapter for a protecting a horizontal stack of envelopes positioned in a tray having outwardly angled side walls and a bottom wall, each side wall having a side wall height, said bottom wall having a bottom wall length and a bottom wall width, each envelope having an envelope length and an envelope height, said envelope length being less than said bottom wall width, and said adapter comprising: (a) a pair of end panels, each end panel having an end panel height and having a panel length less than said bottom wall width; (b) a pair of side panels, each side panel having a side panel height and having a side panel length less than said bottom wall length; (c) said end panels and said side panels being joined in end to end relation with said end panels opposite one another and said side panels opposite one another; and (d) said end panels and said side panels having such panel heights and cooperating in such a manner as to support a second tray out of crushing engagement with a stack of envelopes positioned within said panels.
 2. An adapter as set forth in claim 1 wherein: (a) said end panels are of generally equal height and only one of said side panels has a panel height equal to the height of said end panels.
 3. An adapter as set forth in claim 1 wherein: (a) the end panel heights and the side panel heights are all substantially equal.
 4. An adapter as set forth in claim 1 wherein: (a) each end panel height and each side panel height is greater than said envelope height but less than said side wall height; and (b) the end panel heights and the side panel heights are all substantially equal.
 5. An adapter as set forth in claim 1 wherein: (a) said adapter is positioned within said tray and supports a second tray stacked thereon out of crushing relation with a horizontal stack of envelopes positioned in said adapter.
 6. An adapter as set forth in claim 1 wherein: (a) one of said end panels has a first free end and an inner surface; (b) a side panel adjacent said one of said end panels has a second free end; and (c) a glue flap extends from said second free end, overlaps said inner surface of the end panel adjacent thereto at said first free end, and is adhered to said inner surface of the adjacent end panel.
 7. An adapter as set forth in claim 1 and including: (a) a continuous length of material folded to form a first side panel, a first end panel, a second side panel, and a second end panel.
 8. An adapter as set forth in claim 1 and including: (a) a continuous length of material folded to form a first end panel, a first side panel, a second end panel, a second side panel, and a glue flap; and (b) said glue flap is adhered to said first end panel.
 9. An adapter as set forth in claim 1 and including: (a) a continuous length of material folded to form a first end panel, a first side panel, a second side panel, a second side panel, and a glue flap; (b) said glue flap is adhered to said first end panel; and (c) said adapter is formed of a corrugated paper material.
 10. An envelope packaging system for horizontal stacks of envelopes, each envelop having an envelope length and an envelope height, said system comprising: (a) a first postal tray having outwardly angled side and end walls and a bottom wall, each side wall and end wall having a side wall height, said bottom wall having a bottom wall length and a bottom wall width, said side height being greater than said envelope height; (b) an envelope tray adapter including: (1) a pair of end panels, each end panel having an end panel height less than said side wall height but greater than said envelope height and a panel length less than said bottom wall width; (2) a pair of side panels, each side panel having a side panel height equal to said end panel height and a side panel length less than said bottom wall length; and (3) said end panels and said side panels being joined in end to end relation with said end panels opposite one another and said side panels opposite one another; (c) said envelope tray adapter being positioned within said postal tray engaging said bottom wall to receive a horizontal stack of envelopes within said adapter; and (d) a second postal tray positioned on said envelope tray adapter to thereby maintain said second postal tray out of crushing engagement with envelopes positioned within said envelope tray adapter.
 11. A system as set forth in claim 10 wherein: (a) one of said end panels has a first free end and an inner surface; (b) a side panel adjacent said one of said end panels has a second free end; and (c) a glue flap extends from said second free end, overlaps said inner surface of the end panel adjacent thereto at said first free end, and is adhered to said inner surface of the adjacent end panel.
 12. A system as set forth in claim 10 and including: (a) a continuous length of material folded to form a first end panel, a first side panel, a second end panel, and a second side panel.
 13. A system as set forth in claim 10 and including: (a) a continuous length of material folded to form a first end panel, a first side panel, a second end panel, a second side panel, and a glue flap; and (b) said glue flap is adhered to said first end panel.
 14. A system as set forth in claim 10 and including: (a) a continuous length of material folded to form a first end panel, a first side panel, a second end panel, a second side panel, and a glue flap; (b) said glue flap is adhered to said first end panel; and (c) said adapter wall is formed of a corrugated paper material.
 15. A method for packaging horizontal stacks of envelopes, each envelope having an envelope length and an envelope height, said method comprising the steps of: (a) providing a plurality of postal trays, each tray including outwardly angled side and end walls and a bottom wall, each side wall and end wall having a side wall height, said bottom wall having a bottom wall length and a bottom wall width, said side height being greater than said envelope height; (b) providing a plurality of envelope tray adapters, each adapter including: (1) a pair of end panels, each end panel having an end panel height less than said side wall height but greater than said envelope height and a panel length less than said bottom wall width; (2) a pair of side panels, each side panel having a side panel height equal to said end panel height and a side panel length less than said bottom wall length; and (3) said end panels and said side panels being joined in end to end relation with said end panels opposite one another and said side panels opposite one another; (c) positioning one of said envelope tray adapters within each of a plurality of said postal trays, each adapter engaging said bottom wall of a respective tray; (d) positioning a horizontal stack of envelopes within each of said adapters; and (e) stacking said postal trays with adapters and envelopes therein with each upper tray engaging an adapter in its respective lower tray whereby each upper tray is maintained out of crushing engagement with envelopes in the respective lower tray.
 16. A method as set forth in claim 15 and for each adapter performing the steps of: (a) providing one of said end panels with a first free end and an inner surface; (b) providing a side panel adjacent said one of said end panels with a second free end; (c) providing a glue flap extending from said second free end and overlapping said inner surface of the end panel adjacent thereto at said first free end; and (d) gluing said glue flap to said inner surface of the adjacent end panel.
 17. A system as set forth in claim 15 and including the step of: (a) folding a continuous length of material to form a first end panel, a first side panel, a second end panel, and a second side panel of each adapter.
 18. A system as set forth in claim 15 and including the steps of: (a) folding a continuous length of material to form a first end panel, a first side panel, a second end panel, a second side panel, and a glue flap of each adapter; and (b) gluing said glue flap of each adapter to said second end panel thereof.
 19. A system as set forth in claim 15 and including the steps of: (a) folding a continuous length of a corrugated paper material to form a first end panel, a first side panel, a second end panel, a second side panel, and a glue flap of each adapter; and (b) gluing said glue flap of each adapter to said second end panel thereof. 